Solar thermal power The first solar-thermal power plant in Southeast Asia fed its full output of 5 MW into Thailand’s public grid for the first time late January. The facility — designed and built by Solarite GmbH (Duckwitz, Germany; www.solarlite.de)…
Researchers from the Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Monash University (Clayton, Victoria, Australia; www.monash.edu), have reported on a new composite polymer hydrogel with light-absorbing particles incorporated within it, that can be used as draw agents in the forward osmosis (FO) process…
A challenge in recovering fissile material from spent nuclear fuel is separating radioactive components that cannot be reused as fuel. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratory (Albuquerque, N.M.; www.sandia.gov) have fabricated metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) capable of selectively capturing gaseous iodine from…
Earlier this year, the first polylactic acid (PLA) plant based on a new polymerization process was put into service by Synbra Technology in Etten Leur, the Netherlands. The plant — capable of producing up to 5,000 ton/yr of PLA —…
A naphtha-cracking process with improved yield, reduced coking and longer catalyst life is being developed in a five-year Japanese project led by professor Takashi Tatsumi at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TiTech; www.titech.ac.jp), with participation from the National Institute of…
The first commercial-scale biobutanol plant using the Gevo Integrated Fermentation Technology (GIFT) process is set to come online in mid-2012 at the former site of an ethanol facility in Minnesota. In late January, Gevo (Englewood, Colo.; www.gevo.com) was awarded a…
A new catalyst design, in which gallium atoms are integrated into the zeolite catalyst structure, can increase yields of aromatic compounds from biomass by 40% in a catalytic fast-pyrolysis process. The higher yields of benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX), as…
A proprietary nanoscale catalyst and an updated engineering design have allowed higher conversion rates for transforming the heaviest fractions of crude oil, known as vacuum residue, into high-value transportation fuels, such as diesel. Developed by UOP LLC (Des Plaines, Ill.;…
Vegamet 391 with SIL (safety integrity level) qualification is a universal signal-conditioning instrument for a variety of measurement tasks, such as level, gage-and process-pressure measurement. It can also serve as power supply for connected sensors. Vegamet 391 is designed for…
The Becker Emergency Shutdown Valve (ESD) has received third-party certification for compliance with IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standard 61508 for functional safety. The designation signifies the ability of the valve to reduce overall process risk. The valve received certification for…